WELCOME BACK

It was a very special day for all the staff on Monday with the return of some of our classes. Admittedly we have had some children on site for the last couple of months and we have loved working with them, but it is different to have your own class back again. A group that each teacher as established a rapport and desire to mould them into the best they can be. So when your class returns it is extra special. The Kinder and Year 1 teachers had that joy this week, and our teachers of Year 2-6 will get to experience that next week.

Parents have done a wonderful job of keeping the learning going in what is very difficult circumstances. For that we are deeply appreciative and excited to get back to F2F learning.

COVID RESTRICTIONS

At the moment the Public Health Orders (PHO) requires our school site to operate under  Level 3plus guidelines. There are some guidelines for school that are a little stricter than the general community at this time. They are aimed at reducing the opportunities for COVID to spread. These include:

• Separating Cohorts – we will be staggering the lunch breaks and playing areas for the different cohorts as we welcome more back to school;
• Vaccination declarations - all visitors, contractors, support professionals and volunteers will need to provide proof that they are double dosed vaccinated to come onto the site.
• Mask wearing – staff will be required to wear masks inside and outside, unless there are special circumstances which require a  mask to be removed (communication, support etc), It is strongly recommended that children wear a mask inside, but they are not required to, nor will they be encouraged to by staff – parents will need to make that decision for your own children – if parents need to visit the office then masks are required;
• Drinking water – children are encouraged to bring and fill their own water bottles, rather than use the bubblers;
• Ear phones—we ask that parents provide their children with their own head phones or ear buds for use with computer and tablets, rather than share others;
• Hand sanitizer – we encourage regular use of hand washing and using sanitizer - children will be required to do this at breaks and the commencement of the day;
• Extra cleaning - our cleaner will be cleaning hard surfaces, toilets and touch points twice a day.
• All staff (including volunteers) will be required to be double vaccinated by 8 November.
• Any children with even the mildest symptoms should stay home and get tested- - you know the drill.

Thank you everyone for respecting these guidelines.

TELL THEM FROM ME SURVEY 

On the weekend parents would have recieved an invitation to paticipate in the Tell Them From Me survey. This is an opportunity to provide some feedback as to how you perceive the school is providing for the education of your children. The original window for responses has neen extended to 12 November. 

In 2020 we asked parents and carers to participate in a survey conducted by Tell Them From Me®. (TTFM®). The survey data provided us with valuable feedback on what our students think about their faith, school life, how engaged they are with school and the different ways that teachers interact with them.

The information gathered from this survey helps our school community to be better informed about what we are doing well, where we need to focus more attention and how we can sharpen our planning to ensure we achieve improved outcomes for our students. This year, we are seeking your help and participation to improve on our parent/carer response rate from 2020.

As parents and carers of students in our school, we deeply value your feedback and encourage you to partner with us and complete this survey. The information we gather is critical to us and allows us to hear directly from you and gain insight into what you think is important about the work we do, how we communicate with you and where you think we need to improve.

From the 2020 TTFM® survey data we learnt the following as both areas of strength and improvement:
What we learned:

1. Information about events or expectations was not getting to parents.
2. The two-way communication about your child’s progress and learning was limited.
3. Verbal and Social  Bullying were the main areas of concern for the safety and wellbeing of the children.

What we did:

1. Provide parents with information in a variety of formats including School Newsletter – online and paper on request, Facebook, COMPASS
2. Trialed child inclusive reporting  and feedback during Parent/Teacher interviews, added class programs overviews to newsletter at the beginning of each term.
3. Reviewed Anti-Bullying and Student Behaviour policies, engaged the Police Parent Liaison, engaged CSO Student Support Unit, provided counselling for children experiencing difficulties, investigating and developing a  new Positive Behaviour 4 Learning programs to develop respect and resilience in children.

As you can see, we use the feedback you provide us to action strategies.

We want all children in our schools to thrive and we know that working together, listening, and sharing ideas helps our schools to improve and grow as strong learning and faith communities.

The 2021 survey is now open and closes Friday 12 November (extended by 2 weeks). We welcome your timely feedback.
If you have questions about this survey, please don’t hesitate to email us at admin@shortland.catholic.edu.au
 
Please click on this link 
 http://tellthemfromme.com/olov1and it will take you to the survey.

When our Year 4 to 6 children return next week, we will be inviting them to give us some feedback as well. Parents will receive an "OPt Out" request if you do not wish your child to participate.

BULLYING WEBINAR 

Part of ou review our our Anti-Bullying Policy and Behaviour Management Program will be an opportuity to participate in a short "webinar" about Bullying. Craig Moore from the Student Support Unit of the CSO will present a short dialogue with parents on Monday, 1 Novemebr at 7pm. This will be a "ZOOM" style video presentation and parents will be forwarded a link to tune into on their computers. We will be asking for any questions from parents that you might like answered as part of the presentation. Stay Tuned.

VALET PICK UP 

Thank you all for the wonderful way you have taken on the "Valet" style drop off and pick up. We would like to think it is going smootly -- but we are always open for suggestions. It will get a bit more hectic next week as we welcome more back to school. We are asking the following to help with this.

Primary ony families should pick up from the Sandgate Rd gate. 

Infants only families are encouraged to line up along Lovell Pde a little earlier if possible (around 2:45pm)

Mixed infants and primary families are encourage to arrive on Lovell Pde for pick up a little later (closer to 3pm)

Walkers will leave from the top Lovell Pde gate.

Remember -- Patience and Care are most important. Please remember to have your family name displayed clearly on the passenger visor (on the dash makes it hard to read).

Year 1

It has been such a pleasure to welcome Year 1 back to school this week! We were all so happy to see each other, to re-establish our routines and get stuck into some learning in our classroom environment. Thank you again so much to all of the Year 1 Parents who did such an amazing job overseeing home learning for their children. We are so grateful for your efforts! Let's hope we can now enjoy the rest of the term together at school, with lots of exciting learning to look forward to, and connections and friendships to enjoy with our classmates. 

Year 2

Year 3

Year 4

Year 5/6

How to enrol for our OOSH Services: